Silver Shock
by I Hate Snatch Steal
Summary: Despite being near the docks on the day of the big bang, Josh seemed to have escaped becoming a bang baby, or so he thought. His new powers are potent, but not easy to hide or control (This story is a pseudo crossover).
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

I flinched as I heard gunfire and fighting noises from less than a block away. My rescue plan wasn't going well at all. I'd run outside when I realized my pet cat "Tabitha" had escaped. Normally I wouldn't go after her since she's an outdoor cat but she was recovering from a leg injury and thus would be easy prey. However, once I started hearing loud noises that made me fear more for my own safety. I figured that if I didn't get off the streets I might be badly hurt or worse. Frantically I ducked into an alley and hid behind a dumpster. The lightning was poor and my eye condition didn't help so I could barely see. I waited for a few minutes and heard a loud bang. Shortly after that I could swear the air felt heavier than usual. It became hard to breathe. I felt like I was going to die there and then…

I woke suddenly to my alarm going off. "That dream again." I thought to myself. For what seemed like the millionth time I reminded myself of what the dream didn't show me from the chain of events that happened a year or so ago. I'd nearly passed out before I was found by the police. They brought me to the local police station and after I'd recovered enough to tell them who I was, they brought me home. "Tabby", as I often liked to call her, was safe. I figured she must have rushed home when the loud noises started. However the day after brought with it another worry: the news showed people who'd been involved at a gang war at the docks were mutated by some weird gas into what the media called meta humans. I'd been close enough to hear the gunfire, so I frantically waited. However a month passed and nothing bad happened to me so I figured I must have not been exposed.

A voice I recognized as my mother's called, "Josh, breakfast!" I stopped reminiscing and came downstairs. "Did you remember your eye medication last night?" She asked. "Yes Mom" I replied. She must have heard annoyance in my voice since she said, "The doctor said that missing even one dose could throw off the medication levels in your body and ruin your recovery". I'd never missed a dose. I was taking medication because I'd had bad eyesight and poor night vision for as long as I could remember. My mother said it was from having an eye infection when I was barely a year old. When an experimental treatment came out that touted it could fix my eyesight, I jumped at the chance. I'd started the treatment two years ago. Slowly the medication was restoring my eyes. My next eye exam was in a week and when I'd started the doctor said I'd be seeing 20/20 in 18 to 24 months.

After breakfast I headed off to school. Walking there was pleasant enough, however I overheard someone talking about how there'd recently been an escape from the meta human wing of the local prison.

Just before the lunch bell rang, my teacher handed me my chemistry test back. I looked at the grade and wasn't happy. I'd barely pass at this rate. It wasn't that I ignored school. I just had trouble with some subjects. Once I'd eaten lunch I asked around to see if anyone could tutor me and was recommended a student named Riche Foley. I looked around for him and found him talking with another student. "Hi, you must be Riche". I said extending a hand in greeting. He shook it and said, "Yep, that's me, and this is my friend Virgil." I shook Virgil's hand, looked at Riche, and continued, "Can you tutor me in Chemistry please?" Riche replied, "Sorry, I'm busy after school." I replied, "How about during lunch then?" Riche looked at Virgil for an opinion. Virgil nodded, so I got out my book and we got started.

A week later I got a chemistry quiz back with a perfect grade. After my session with Riche, I thanked him and when I got home I showed it to my Mom. "Your tutor must really be helping." She said, "His name was Riche?" I replied, "Yes, Richie Foley." My Mom added, "Let's see if your eyes have improved as much as your chemistry grades have." I'd been so happy about the chemistry quiz that I hadn't thought about it: my next eye exam was today. A few hours later I walked out of the eye doctor's office with a big smile. My vision was now 20/20! It felt different not taking the eye medication before bed that night, but it was a good sort of different.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Morning came without bad dreams. I felt a little more tired then I should but I decided not to worry about it. Since school was closed for an administrative day, I spent the morning alternating between playing games on my PC and watching let's play videos of video games from series I'd played in the past. That is, until I got a text from my friend Ethan Raine. We'd been good friends for years, but his family moved out of state a few months ago. However we were determined to stay in touch, especially since I hadn't made any friends since. After a fun conversation, my Mom took me out to lunch to celebrate my successful eye recovery. On the way to the restaurant I looked out the window and saw Static and Gear flying overhead. Static showing up was one of the reasons I was able to cope as well as I did while I waited to see if I was going to mutate from the big bang. I'd never interacted with them, but I'm definitely grateful for their work.

Just as we finished lunch my Mom got called into work. She offered to drive me home and then commute, but I declined since I knew her boss gets cranky easily. I left the restaurant and walked past a few shops towards the residential district. Then I started to feel weird.

Suddenly it intensified and I my body felt like it was melting. I wasn't sure if I was going to puke so I ran into an alley. I my skin felt irritated all the sudden, and then my head felt like it was fluid and changing shape. Finally my tailbone seemed to expand into 3 protrusions. As quickly as they had started, the extreme feelings faded. "What was that?" I thought to myself. I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye and turned to see what appeared to be a cracked mirror. I had time to notice a fox's head on a human shaped body before I jumped back. Strangely, the reflection mirrored my movements. I felt freaked out but decided to look again anyway. Staring back at me was an anthropomorphic fox with 3 tails, wearing my clothes, although they didn't fit very well on it. I looked down at my hand and saw that it had the same fur as my reflection, and animalistic claws instead of finger nails. I reached up and touched my head, watching my reflection do the same thing and felt a muzzle and fox ears. "What is going on here? What happened to me?" I silently asked. I had to get home, get help, or something but how was I supposed to walk around like this? I looked at some of the trash in the alley and fond an old hat and a trench coat with a hole where the front pocket would be.

Despite many weird looks from passerby, I made it to the outskirts of the business district. I stopped because my fur was getting very itchy from being under several layers of clothing. I found another alley and decided to take a break. The alley happened to be next to a video game store. I knew it was a video game store because a poster of Kratos Aurion adorned the window. I ducked into the alley and removed my clothes. It felt slightly weird not having them on but no one was looking and my fur covered everything anyway.

After a few minutes of resting I heard something unusual from down the street. I peeked around the side of the building and saw an old lady being hassled by a purpled haired teen, a teen with abnormally big feet, and what appeared to be a man shaped shadow wearing a vest. "Give up your money." A male voice demanded, I couldn't tell who was speaking from the angle and distance I was at. The lady started to reach into her purse. "I have to get help" I thought, "but how can I like this". The lady handed over a wad of cash and the purple haired teen said, "That's a nice ring you have there, fork it over." The lady looked worried but stood her ground. "It's my husband's 30th anniversary gift." She said, "I'm not parting with it." The shadow man motioned and the purple haired teen's arm turned into a blade. Frantically I wished I could be someone else: Someone who could get help or better yet, give help.

Suddenly my body felt like it was changing again only this time it didn't feel sickly. On newfound instinct I rushed out of the alley and pulled a red sword with gold trim out of its sheath. The purple haired teen was about to slash the lady, but I parried the blow at the last second. He turned his other hand into a blade, and tried to attack me, but he was no match for my fencing skills. I parried his attacks and bashed his head with my shield. The purple haired teen crumpled just as I sensed movement behind me and jumped out of the way of the big footed teen. It seemed he'd jumped into the air and tried to crush me. He jumped again but I spread my wings and met him in the air. He was unprepared for this so I knocked the wind out of him with the pommel of my sword, which caused him to crash land. I noticed what would best be described as a harpy with a hostile expression flying at me from nearby building. I intoned, "Wind Blade!" and blew her out of the air with a spell. I landed in between the lady and the man shadow. "You'd better get out of here before I really get serious" he said. I could tell he was bluffing but I regardless I started chanting: "Sacred powers, cast your purifying light on these corrupt souls, rest in peace sinners!" He had just enough time to give me a confused look before I finished the incantation, "Judgement!" The man shadow was struck by bright light from above and collapsed. "Blame your fate" I said and sheathed my sword.

"What just happened? What did I just do? How did I just do it?" I barely managed to keep from exclaiming out loud. Suddenly I felt drained, and then I felt my body changing again. I could feel the fur re-appearing and my face starting to form a muzzle. I vaguely heard the lady saying something as I ran away. I found my way into another alley just as I felt my strength leaving me. I sat down against the side of the building. I only had a few moments to wonder what's going on before I passed out.

Meanwhile, Static and Gear had just finished stopping a bank robbery when gear's equipment intercepted a police radio message about a mugging perpetrated by a group of meta humans. Both of them flew off towards the residential district to help. "You know, they really should have done a better job on the jail's meta human wing." Static said. "I'm sure I can help them with that" Gear replied. The two of them arrived on the scene to find the members of the meta-breed unconscious. "Looks like we missed the party" Static said. Gear replied, "Yeah, but who did this?"


	3. Chapter 3

I awoke slowly. That is, until I noticed that I was lying down in an alley. I looked up and saw the moon overhead. I heard a noise a few streets over and noticed my ears moving to focus on the sound. "What?" I thought to myself, and then memories came back to me. I thought I'd be safer at home so I walked out of the alley. It was late at night so no one was around. I stealthily made my way to my house. As I walked I noticed that my night vision was better than it should be, and I could hear really well on top of that.

Thankfully the trip home was uneventful. I retrieved the spare key from its hiding place and let myself in. I could hear steady breathing coming from my Mom's room. Then I had another thought, "How do I explain this? Can I even explain this?" Before I could leave my stomach rumbled. I ate some food, and decided to spend the rest of the night hidden elsewhere. Before I left, I took one of my Dad's hats and trench coats; since he was away on business I figured he wouldn't miss them.

The next day, I decided to lay low in the business district. There were more people there so I figured I'd stand out less. School had gotten out a few minutes ago since even with my ears covered I could overhear students talking about homework and classes on their way home. I was walking past a restaurant that had a "Space for lease" sign when I smelled something funny, but I couldn't place it. A group of female students walked past and one of them muttered, "That creep has so fashion sense". Strangely none of the others voiced agreement. I turned and saw that one of them was sniffing the air; I recognized that girl from extra-curricular activities at school, her name was Frieda. The strange smell had gotten stronger, suddenly remembered what that smell was; stove gas. I overheard a voice from nearby "Mind lighting me up?" and another voice replying, "Sure". "Look out!" I screamed and tackled the group of girls to the ground just as the old restaurant exploded. My hat blew off and I quickly got up to retrieve it. However before I could I noticed my coat was on fire. I threw off the coat and heard gasps and exclamations from bystanders. Then I noticed that Frieda's ankle was bleeding. Acting on instinct, I picked her up and started running for the hospital a few blocks away.

I was halfway there when I heard a voice from above, "Drop the girl!" I turned and saw Static and Gear flying towards me. I leaned Frieda against a lamppost and tried to think of what to say. However before I could say anything, Gear threw a restraining device that wound around my arms and clamped my muzzle shut. Gear grabbed Frieda and said, "She's lost a lot of blood." Static replied, "Get her to the hospital." Gear flew off and I thought to myself, "Now would be a great time to pull a disappearing act". Static turned around and started to study me, he said, "I didn't know it was Halloween already." I thought, "I wish I could be invisible, like a Dark Templar is or something". I felt my body changing again. The restraints shifted and I could sort of move. Static must have noticed since his expression changed and he said, "Where'd he go?" I waited for him to look away and cut myself free with my warp blades. Not wanting to give my presence away, I ran down an alley and made it a few blocks before I felt my new form fade. Luckily I didn't feel as tired as last time.

Later, Virgil and Riche were hanging out at Riche's house while discussing the day's events. "We're lucky we found Frieda before that creep made off with her." Richie said. Virgil replied, "Yeah, but he got away though." Further conversation was cut off when riche's Mom walked over and said, "Richie, telephone" and handed him the phone. Richie said, "Hello?" On the other end, a female voice said, "Hi Richie, did you seen my son Josh at school today? He said you tutor him in chemistry." Richie replied, "No, I didn't, he's usually very punctual so I was surprised when he didn't show up for tutoring today." "That's weird." Josh's mother replied, "Let me know if you see him" and Riche couldn't miss the concern and disappointment in her voice.

The next day Virgil and Riche went to visit Frieda in the hospital. She was well known around school for her extracurricular leadership so she'd received a few visits already. A nurse escorted them to Frieda's room and said, "We're lucky Gear got her here so fast. That injury could have been serious but she's going to make a full recovery" before opening the door. They walked in and saw Frieda was lying in bed. "How's your ankle holding up?" Virgil asked. Frieda replied, "It's recovering." Riche added, "It must have been painful getting bitten by whatever that thing was." Frieda gave him a look of confusion and said, "I wasn't bitten: It was shrapnel from the explosion." Virgil and Riche didn't expect that response, but Virgil added, "Still it's a good thing Static and Gear were there or otherwise you'd be werewolf lunch", his tone suggested he was trying to make a joke. Frieda took offense though, "Why are you assuming he was trying to eat me?" she asked angrily, "When he was carrying me he didn't seem that way at all. Right before the blast he screamed 'look out' and tackled me to the ground. That explosion could have taken my head off." Virgil and Richie were surprised but managed a hasty, "Sorry" and "We should let you rest" before hurriedly leaving.

Meanwhile, at an undisclosed location, a sinister voice said, "With this weapon, I'm unstoppable" and punctuated it with an evil laugh. The laughter soon became mixed with mechanical sounds.


End file.
